Friday, September 3, 2021

CDL. CUPICH AND THE REALITY OF THE DEVIL NEWS: COMMENTARY...by Raymond de Souza, KHS, KM, KofC • ChurchMilitant.com • September 3, 2021 8 Comments Prayer is essential to escaping evil

 

CDL. CUPICH AND THE REALITY OF THE DEVIL

NEWS: COMMENTARY
by Raymond de Souza, KHS, KM, KofC  •  ChurchMilitant.com  •  September 3, 2021    8 Comments

Prayer is essential to escaping evil

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The news of Cdl. Blase Cupich's ban on the Prayer to St. Michael at the end of the celebration of the Mass piqued the interest of many. "Si non e vero, e bene trovato," the Italians say ("If it is not true, it is well found" or, in other words, it makes perfect sense).

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The Exorcist and Hostage to the Devil

The action of the Devil is a reality in the Catholic Church today more than ever. And his effort to pass unnoticed is a successful strategy, sometimes helped by trendy ecclesiastics.

You will all have heard about the famous film The Exorcist, which is based on the novel by William Peter Blatty. The novel was inspired by the 1949 real-life case of the demonic possession and exorcism of a 14-year-old boy, Ronald Hunkeler from Cottage City, Maryland.

Blatty first heard about the case in 1950 while a student at Georgetown University. It was widely published by the media. Blatty contacted the exorcist priest and also managed to get access to a copy of the diary kept by the assistant priest. His book and the film are based on this material. It took over 20 exorcisms to finally cast out the demon from the young man.

If you think a person may be possessed, there are a number of indicators to look for: freezing temperatures; vile odors; doors and windows banging uncontrollably; furniture tipping over; pictures falling from walls; the bed carrying the possessed person moving, bouncing and levitating; languages unknown to the possessed being spoken; writing appearing on the body of the person; vomiting of solid objects; superhuman feats of strength; aversion to crucifixes and holy water; and the palpable sensation of an evil and malevolent presence.

Many of these telltale signs of demonic possession were present during the Ronald Hunkeler exorcism and were terrifyingly reproduced in the Blatty film. Priests say that after the release of the film, confessionals were never empty, and nonpracticing Catholics by the thousands returned to the practice of their Faith.

In 1976, Fr. Malachi Martin wrote a masterpiece on diabolical possession called Hostage to the Devil. It deals with multiple cases of exorcism in the United States where the possessed were still alive at the time of the writing of the book. It is an extremely well-researched book, with input from the exorcised persons themselves, their families, the exorcist priests and the information contained in the tape recordings and notes on the exorcisms. The four stories are spine-chillingly compelling reading.

Priests say that after the release of the film, nonpracticing Catholics by the thousands returned to the practice of their Faith.GabTweet

In the same year Fr. Martin's book was published, Anneliese Michel died during an exorcism. This amazing story was also made into a film — The Exorcism of Emily Rose.

Then there's the exorcism of an Italian woman, one of many carried out by Fr. Gabriele Amorth — the exorcist of the diocese of Rome who died in 2016 at the age of 91 and is said to have performed more than 40,000 exorcisms during his life.

In his book L'Ultimo Esorcista ("The Last Exorcist"), Amorth tells the story of Simona, a young woman wanting to get ahead in her world. On the advice of a friend, she makes a pact with Satan during a séance, giving her soul to him in return for advancement at work.

The results started immediately. Within five months, she rose from an entry-level employee to a director of the organization with more than a tripling of her salary and innumerable benefits.

But the price was that she now had within her a presence that goaded her to commit violence. She experienced hatred and anger, with a voice telling her to attack, beat and kill people around her. When these rages came upon her, she would hide in the bathroom and bash her head uncontrollably against the walls, splattering herself with blood.

But the price was that she now had within her a presence that goaded her to commit violence. GabTweet

She found the pact with Satan had consequences. She started suffering diabolical attacks every day at the most inopportune moments. Her life became a living hell, and she could not liberate herself from the evil presence. 

But the grace of God was not completely crushed in her. She sought the advice of Fr. Amorth. Amorth tried exorcising her, but he was unsuccessful because the Devil was well entrenched in his victim and refused to respond to the priests' demands. So he gave Simona a regime of daily prayer.

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The Miraculous Medal

He instructed her to pray the prayer given to us by Our Lady herself at Rue du Bac: "O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee." He gave her the Miraculous Medal to wear around her neck. She was to clench it in her hand while praying the prayer every time the Devil threw her body into rages. 

The Devil started attacking her even more ferociously. But now, when she bashed her head against the walls, she was no longer left with the cuts, bleeding and bruises. There were now no signs of the violence. Father Amorth saw this as a good sign of the intercession of the Virgin Mary.

After two years of struggling against this Satanic possession, Simona was offered the second-highest position in the entire organization, but it would be at the cost of the incumbent person being forced out.

Father Amorth told her it was an effort by Satan to break the power of the assistance of the Virgin Mary in her life. He urged her to refuse the promotion. "Your career has been given to you by Satan," he said. "This is a test from Heaven. Trust in Our Lady."

Simona refused the promotion, to the incredulity of those around her. Her career collapsed. Within six months, she lost her job. After two years, she was finally freed from Satan. She found a new job and light returned to her life.

There are many more stories like these, each a testament to the reality of Satanic influence. In the Gospel, we read about Jesus exorcising a young girl without even seeing the child in person. The faith of the mother was sufficient for Jesus to heal her.

He gave her the Miraculous Medal to wear around her neck. GabTweet

Yes, it is a very good thing to recite the Prayer to St. Michael at the end of Mass, as well as in other circumstances during the day. Exorcists can do nothing without prayer. Our cries to Heaven — powerfully aided by Our Lady, the angels and saints — truly destroy the Devil's power.

The news of Cdl. Cupich ordering the removal of one of the Church's most powerful prayers, if or when it is fully confirmed, shows which angel he prefers. 

Raymond de Souza is Brazilian by birth, Catholic by grace and American by choice. He is a knight of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem, a knight of the Sovereign and Military Order of Malta, and a fourth-degree Knight of Columbus. He has given in person, on radio and on television over 2,500 talks on apologetics and pro-life issues. He has also assisted religious education programs in dioceses, parishes, schools and lay organizations in 38 countries of the six continents in four languages (English, Spanish, French and Portuguese). He writes weekly articles for the oldest national Catholic paper, The Wanderer. He is the delegate for International Missions for Human Life International, the largest Catholic pro-life and pro-family association in the world, having affiliates in over 100 countries. He has volunteered to assist — free of charge — any parish, association, diocese, school, etc., in North America to address conferences in defense of the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, from the points of view of logic, Sacred Scripture and the early Church Fathers.

 

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LIBERALS HATE TEXAS NEWS: VIDEO REPORTS...by Hunter Bradford • ChurchMilitant.com • September 3, 2021 9 Comments Supreme Court allows historic 'heartbeat' law

 

LIBERALS HATE TEXAS

NEWS: VIDEO REPORTS
by Hunter Bradford  •  ChurchMilitant.com  •  September 3, 2021    9 Comments

Supreme Court allows historic 'heartbeat' law

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TRANSCRIPT

After the Texas Heartbeat Act took effect yesterday morning, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on an emergency appeal late last night and allowed the law to stay in effect. Church Militant's Hunter Bradford explains the high court's ruling and details the reaction of liberals.

In last night's 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court refused to block the pro-life law, which forbids baby killing after a heartbeat is detected. Chief Justice Roberts, both a fake Catholic and a phony conservative, joined all three liberal justices in dissenting. 

Liberals denounce the Texas law for being anti-woman.

Gloria Allred, founding partner at Allred, Maroko and Goldberg law firm: "It is very dangerous to the health and the safety and the lives of women."
 
Wendy Davis, former Texas gubernatorial candidate: "It's going to create a tremendous challenge for providers of abortion and anyone else who tries to assist a woman in getting an abortion."

Many are wondering if Texas just started a legal trend against Roe v. Wade.

Hallie Jackson, senior Washington correspondent, NBC News: "This Texas law, if it's not successfully challenged, could be the model for many other states who are looking to put similar kinds of laws in place."

Abortionists were scrambling to kill babies in the final hours before the law took effect. 

Kim Schwartz, communication director, Texas Right to Life: "You can see pictures of abortionists staying in their clinics until midnight, committing as many abortions as possible, in anticipation that the Texas Heartbeat Act would take effect today [Sept. 1st]." 

In a statement, Kristan Hawkins of Students for Life called the court's ruling "a wake-up call for corporate abortion." The five justices in the majority maintain Wednesday night's decision will not impact the Mississippi case in October, which invites the court to reconsider Roe v. Wade.

 

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WHY BISHOPS LOVE OPEN BORDERS NEWS: VIDEO REPORTS...by Martina Moyski • ChurchMilitant.com • September 3, 2021 11 Comments 'Cold, hard cash'

 

WHY BISHOPS LOVE OPEN BORDERS

NEWS: VIDEO REPORTS
by Martina Moyski  •  ChurchMilitant.com  •  September 3, 2021    11 Comments

'Cold, hard cash'

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TRANSCRIPT

United States bishops continue to slam last week's Supreme Court decision upholding President Trump's "Remain in Mexico" policy, seeing the ruling as "heartless." But Martina Moyski explains how it's not "love thy neighbor" but money that fuels the bishops' support of open borders.

Over the past decade, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has raked in billions of taxpayer dollars from Uncle Sam for migrant and refugee services.

Michael Hichborn, president of the Lepanto Institute: "The USCCB collected a whopping $50 million for migration and refugee services for the year 2020, most of which came from the federal government." 

The bishops frame their dealings as "loving thy neighbor." But Michelle Malkin writes in her book Open Borders Inc., "The open-borders business of the Catholic Church is less about love, hope and faith or charity than it is about cold, hard cash." Their priorities are inscribed in their financial reports.

Hichborn: "During that same time period, the U.S. bishops collected a meager $777,000 for pro-life activities."

Hichborn says getting involved in immigration and refugee resettlement is a lucrative endeavor for the USCCB — but fighting to save preborn babies from dismemberment and death just isn't. He compared the bishops' perverted love of cash to Judas' betrayal of Jesus.

Hichborn: "I can think of at least one Apostle who elevated money over salvation — Pope Francis has a picture and statue of him in his office."

More people are seeing through the USCCB's charade of compassion, seeing it instead as prostituting its spiritual mission in exchange for pieces of silver from the government. United States Catholic bishops routinely criticized President Trump for his immigration policies, calling them "immoral."

U.S. Catholic bishops routinely criticized President Trump for his immigration policies, calling them immoral.

Bishop Edward Weisenburger of Tucson, Arizona even suggested "canonical penalties," such as denial of the Holy Eucharist, be imposed on Catholics involved in implementing the policies.

 

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WE’VE GOT A PIECE OF THE ROCK NEWS: COMMENTARY...by Joe Sixpack — The Every Catholic Guy • ChurchMilitant.com • September 3, 2021 2 Comments Peter and the papacy

 

WE’VE GOT A PIECE OF THE ROCK

NEWS: COMMENTARY
by Joe Sixpack — The Every Catholic Guy  •  ChurchMilitant.com  •  September 3, 2021    2 Comments

Peter and the papacy

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Last week, we began our examination of how Christ founded the Catholic Church. This week, we're going to take it a step further.

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St. Peter

The most telling point about the divine origins of the Church is the papacy. Non-Catholics like to tell us there's nothing in the Bible about the papacy or St. Peter being the first pope. That couldn't be further from the truth. Biblical evidence for the papacy is overwhelming.

Note first that St. Peter was almost always named first in the Gospels' listings of the Apostles (Matthew 10:1–4; Mark 3:16–19; Luke 6:14–16; Acts 1:13) and that sometimes the Apostles were referred to only as "Peter and those who were with him" (Luke 9:32). Saint Peter was the first of the Apostles to preach, the first to perform a healing miracle and the one to whom the revelation came that Christianity was for Gentiles as well as Jews (Acts 2:14–40; 3:6; 10:46–48).

Peter's preeminent position among the Apostles was symbolized at the very beginning of his relationship to Christ, although the implications were only slowly unfolded. At their first meeting, Jesus told Simon that his name would thereafter be Peter, which translates as "Rock" (John 1:42). Until that moment, only God was called a rock. The word was never used as a proper name for a man. If one were to turn to a companion and say, "From now on your name is Soufflé," people would wonder, "Why Soufflé — what does that mean?" Indeed, why Peter for Simon the fisherman? Why give him as a name a word only used for God before now?

Christ wasn't given to meaningless gestures, and neither were the Jews when it came to names. Giving a new name meant that the status of the person was changed, as when Abram was changed to Abraham (Genesis 17:5); Jacob to Israel (Genesis 32:28); Eliacim to Joakim (2 Kings 23:34); and Daniel, Ananias, Misael and Azarias to Baltasar, Sidrach, Misach and Abdenago (Daniel 1:6–8). But no Jew had ever been called "Rock" because that was reserved for God. 

The Jews would give other names taken from nature such as Barach ("Lightning"), Deborah ("Bee") and Rachel ("Ewe"), but not Rock. In the New Testament, James and John were surnamed Boanerges ("Sons of Thunder") by Jesus, but that was never regularly used in place of their original names. Simon's new name supplanted the old.

Saint Peter's name has been firmly established by Christ as a name linked to God. Throughout Jesus and Peter's relationship, the reason became gradually clearer, but it becomes crystal clear in Matthew's Gospel. Immediately after Peter proclaims Christ's divinity, Jesus says:

Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in Heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of Heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in Heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in Heaven (Matthew 16:17–19).

This passage seems obvious to most of us. It could have been rewritten as "You are rock and on this rock I will build my Church." It makes perfect sense that Jesus is here giving Peter supreme authority. However, those who desire to debunk the papacy and its divine authority prefer to claim the rock refers to Christ instead of Peter.

Grammatical rules tell us that the phrase "this rock" must relate to the closest noun. Peter's profession of faith that Jesus is the Christ is two verses earlier, while Peter's name is in the immediately preceding clause. Consider this artificial sentence: "I have a shirt and a coat and it is blue." Which is blue? The coat — because that's the noun closest to the pronoun "it." Obviously then, the word "rock" must mean Peter — "You are Peter (Rock), and on this rock I will build my Church." 

Not only is the reference to rock clear, but we see also that Jesus is giving St. Peter more authority than God had ever given any man, along with some specific promises. Immediately after stating that He will build the Church upon St. Peter, Jesus goes on to make an astounding promise, and He has an even more astounding reason for doing so.

The promise is that the gates of Hell will not defeat the Church built on St. Peter. This is a promise that the Church will not be destroyed by Christ's enemies and that she will stand until the end of time. Only a divine institution could be the subject of such a promise. Think about it: There's not one single nation on the face of the planet existing today that existed then. All have either been overthrown and completely remade, or they are destroyed. Many antichrists have come and gone. The Roman Empire tried to destroy the Catholic Church. So did Atilla the Hun, Khan, Napoleon, Hitler and Stalin.

The gates of Hell will not defeat the Church built on St. Peter. GabTweet

Yet Holy Mother Church is still youthful and thriving, while all her enemies have become dust and ashes.

Using the symbol of the keys, Jesus gives Peter his authority. That symbol isn't lost on us today. Dignitaries receive the keys to the city. Business owners possess the keys to their businesses and the authority to run them. You have keys to your car, and no one else has the authority to drive it without those keys. It's obvious then that Jesus is giving divine authority to Peter when He gives him the keys to the kingdom of Heaven.

This is immediately followed by the power of binding and loosing. Binding and loosing among the rabbis of Jesus' time meant to declare something either prohibited or permitted. Here, it plainly means that St. Peter, the steward of the Lord's house, the Church, has all the rights and powers of a divinely appointed steward. He doesn't, like the Jewish rabbis, declare probable, speculative opinions, but he has the right to teach and govern authoritatively, with the certainty of God's approval in Heaven. Lawgiving power is certainly implied by these words.

Got questions? Contact me at Joe@CantankerousCatholic.com.

 

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